History of Flight
On December 23, 2008, at approximately 1445 eastern standard time, a Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser, N1044Y, sustained substantial damage during landing at Emporia-Greensville Regional Airport (EMV), Emporia, Virginia. The student pilot, who was conducting a solo cross-country training flight under 14 CFR Part 91, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight had departed Chesapeake Regional Airport (CPK), Norfolk, Virginia, at about 1354.
The student pilot reported that while in the airport traffic pattern for landing on runway 15, he encountered a strong wind gust during the turn from downwind to base. After turning final, he was well above the approach path indicator. He had difficulty getting the airplane onto the runway, and during the flare the airplane floated. He applied a small amount of power to prevent stalling, but the aircraft continued flying above the runway and began drifting left. After touchdown, the student heard and felt the left main landing gear impact something.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane was a two-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane with tricycle landing gear, powered by a 98.6-horsepower Rotax 912 ULS engine. Manufactured in 2007, it was registered in the Special Light Sport Aircraft (SLSA) category. The most recent conditional inspection was completed on December 5, 2008, and the airplane had accumulated 658 total flight hours at the time of the accident.
Personnel Information
The student pilot reported 21 total hours of flight experience and did not possess an FAA medical certificate.
Meteorological Information
A weather observation at EMV about five minutes before the accident recorded variable winds from 120 to 200 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear sky, temperature 3°C, dew point -11°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.63 inches of mercury.
Airport Information
EMV has a single runway oriented 15/33, 5,044 feet long and 100 feet wide, with an asphalt surface in fair condition. Runway markings were non-precision and in poor condition; edge markings were badly faded. A two-light precision approach path indicator (PAPI) on the left side provided a 3-degree glide path.
Wreckage and Impact Information
Examination by an FAA inspector revealed that a runway light on the left side of runway 15 had been broken off at its base, with impact damage to the housing and a broken lens. The airplane exhibited no preimpact malfunctions. Fuselage skin was wrinkled on the left side above the wing-fuselage juncture, and a vertical line of rivets had pulled through the skin. The main support structure for the left main landing gear was bent, with surrounding skin wrinkled; the left main gear was displaced aft about 3 inches. The nose landing gear assembly was displaced and twisted left, and the center console and interior flooring were bent and buckled. The pitch control system was inoperative due to contact between the fuselage structure and a bell crank, resulting in a broken rod end from a push-pull tube.
Additional Information
Post-accident interviews revealed that the student pilot's flight instructor had noted the student's tendency to be high on final and taught students to use the PAPI as a reference but not to chase it, preferring to be high for safety and emphasizing go-arounds. The student pilot stated he should have gone around but was confused about airspeed at the time.
Examination of the airspeed indicator markings and the pilot operating handbook (POH) revealed discrepancies. The installed indicator had markings in miles per hour and knots, while the POH depicted knots only. The color code ranges on the indicator did not match the POH: the bottom of the white arc was approximately 5 knots higher than published, the top of the white arc was 10 knots lower, and the bottom of the green arc was about 3 knots higher. The POH presented airspeeds as indicated airspeeds, contrary to ASTM standards requiring calibrated airspeeds, and large differences (up to nearly 20 knots) existed between indicated and calibrated airspeeds in the POH.
Similar airspeed inconsistencies had been found in previous investigations of Zodiac CH-601XL aircraft. In response, Czech Aircraft Works modified the SportCruiser's pitot-static system, recomputed airspeed data from flight tests, and republished the POH with a caution that airspeed values were valid only with the specified pitot-static probe. Ownership of the SportCruiser design rights transferred to Czech Sport Aircraft on April 4, 2009, and the aircraft was later renamed the PiperSport.